AOL Agrees to Acquire The Huffington Post

Acquisition Will Solidify AOL’s Strategy of Creating a Premier
Content Network With Local, National and International Reach

Arianna Huffington To Lead Newly Formed The Huffington Post Media
Group Which Will Integrate All Huffington Post and AOL Content,
Including News, Tech, Women, Local, Multicultural, Entertainment, Video,
Community, and More

The New Combined Media Group Will Reach 117 Million Americans and 270
Million Globally

Group Uniquely Positioned To Redefine the Future of Brand Advertising
and Marketing For an Engaged and Influential Audience

2011年2月07日午前12:01，東部標準時

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AOL
Inc. [NYSE:AOL] announced today that it has entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire The
Huffington Post, the influential and rapidly growing news, analysis,
and lifestyle website founded in 2005, which now counts nearly 25
million unique monthly visitors*.

The transaction will create a premier global, national, local, and
hyper-local content group for the digital age – leveraged across online,
mobile, tablet, and video platforms. The combination of AOL’s
infrastructure and scale with The Huffington Post’s pioneering approach
to news and innovative community building among a broad and
sophisticated audience will mark a seminal moment in the evolution of
digital journalism and online engagement.

The new group will have a combined base of 117 million unique visitors a
month in the United States and 270 million around the world**. Following
the close of this transaction, AOL will accelerate its strategy to
deliver a scaled and differentiated array of premium news, analysis, and
entertainment produced by thousands of writers, editors, reporters, and
videographers around the globe.

“The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation
American media company with global reach that combines content,
community, and social experiences for consumers,”said Tim
Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL. “Together, our companies will
embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that
delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers.”

Armstrong continued, “Arianna is a singularly passionate and dedicated
champion of innovative journalistic engagement, and a master of the art
of using new media to illuminate, entertain and enhance the national
conversation. Arianna is a remarkable person and she will continue to
create remarkable outcomes for the combined company.”

“This is truly a merger of visions and a perfect fit for us,” said
Huffington. “The Huffington Post will continue on the same path we have
been on for the last six years – though now at light speed – by
combining with AOL. Our readers will still be able to come to The
Huffington Post at the same URL, and find all the same content they’ve
grown to love, plus a lot more – more local, more tech, more
entertainment, more finance, and lots more video. We are fusing a
legendary and powerful new media brand with a vibrant, innovative news
organization, known for its distinctive voice, a highly engaged
audience, an expertise in community-building, and a track record for
demystifying the news and putting flesh and blood on the data while
drawing our audience into the conversation.”

Huffington continued, “By uniting AOL and The Huffington Post, we are
creating one of the largest destinations for smart content and community
on the Internet. And we intend to keep making it better and better.”

Kenneth
Lerer, The Huffington Post’s Co-Founder and Chairman, and Manager of
Lerer Ventures, said, “The Huffington Post team has created a potent
brand with the proven track record of knowing how to grow traffic,
inform and entertain its readers and build a one-of-a-kind online
community. Add that to the powerful scale and resources of AOL and you
have the perfect combination for today and the future. Together these
two companies will be a premier online content provider. From local
citizen reporting through AOL’s Patch, to The Huffington Post’s national
reporting on politics, business and culture, consumers will have access
to everything they want whenever they want it.”

AOL has agreed to purchase The Huffington Post for $315 million,
approximately $300 million of which will be paid in cash funded from
cash on hand. The Huffington Post is privately owned by its two
cofounders, as well as a group of investors. The proposed transaction is
subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of government
approvals. The boards of directors of each company and shareholders of
The Huffington Post have approved the transaction. The transaction is
expected to close in the late first- or early second-quarter 2011.

The Huffington Post’s affluent, influential audience, that is growing at
a rate of 22 percent (December 2009 vs. December 2010)****, when
combined with AOL’s massive scale, video offerings and local expertise,
will represent an incredibly desirable demographic for a broad range of
advertising partners across the board.

Conference Call – 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday, February 7, 2011

AOL will host a conference call with Chairman and CEO of AOL, Tim
Armstrong, CFO of AOL, Arthur Minson and The Huffington Post Co-Founder
& Editor-in-Chief, Arianna Huffington to discuss the transaction at 8:00
a.m. Eastern time today. To listen to the call via webcast and access
prepared remarks regarding the transaction, please visit our website at ir.aol.com
and click on the link titled “AOL Inc. Conference Call” located under
“Events & Presentations.” The prepared remarks by Arthur Minson
regarding the financial impact of AOL’s acquisition of The Huffington
Post will be available beginning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time today. We
recommend going to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the start of
the webcast to register, download and install any necessary software.
Instructions for accessing and registering for the webcast will be
available at ir.aol.com
beginning today. Visitors will also be able to listen to an archived
copy of the webcast at ir.aol.com
by clicking into “Events & Presentations” for up to 1 year following the
event.

Parties in the United States and Canada should call toll-free (800)
329-9097 and other international parties should call (617) 614-4929.
Participants should reference “AOL Call” when dialing into the live
call. The conference call is scheduled to begin promptly at its
appointed time, and all participants should be on the line by then.

Replays of the conference call will be available at 11:00 a.m. (ET) on
Monday, February 7, 2011 and run until 11:59 p.m. (ET) on February 21,
2011. To hear the replay, U.S. and Canadian parties should call
toll-free (888) 286-8010 and other international parties should call
(617) 801-6888. The access code for the replay is 90388239.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements
regarding the anticipated benefits of the transaction, the expected
closing date and other statements identified by words such as “may,”
“will,” “intend,” “estimate,” “should,” “expect” or similar expressions.
These statements are based on the current expectations and beliefs of
AOL’s management, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in
circumstances, including, but not limited to, the approval of the
transaction by antitrust authorities, the satisfaction of the closing
conditions to the transaction, the competitiveness and quality of our
combined content offerings and significant competition in the media and
journalism industries generally, our ability to timely and successfully
integrate The Huffington Post’s operations into our operations, our
ability to retain, hire and develop skilled employees and the parties’
performance of their obligations under the agreements. Any
forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and
actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by
the statements herein, due to changes in economic, business,
competitive, technological, strategic and/or regulatory factors, as well
as factors affecting The Huffington Post’s and AOL’s operations and
businesses. More detailed information about these factors as they relate
to AOL may be found in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in AOL’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, filed
with the SEC. AOL is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any
obligation to, update or alter the forward-looking statements contained
in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.

About AOL

AOL
Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is a leading global Web services company with an
extensive suite of brands and offerings and a substantial worldwide
audience. AOL’s business spans online content, products and services
that the company offers to consumers, publishers and advertisers. AOL is
focused on attracting and engaging consumers and providing valuable
online advertising services on both AOL’s owned and operated properties
and third-party websites. In addition, AOL operates one of the largest
Internet subscription access services in the United States, which serves
as a valuable distribution channel for AOL’s consumer offerings.

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*comScore, December 2010**comScore, December 2010***Internal****comScore